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The Expo Guadalajara Technical Committee invited five different Mexican architecture studios to participate in the design competition for the conceptual proposal for the extension of this trade fair venue in the capital of Jalisco state. Following a lengthy competition period, Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos has been selected as the winner with a conceptual project that takes as its main objective: the creation of a multifunctional space with an important urban interaction.

Dubai Nhabitat, a mixed-use tower proposed by Ankara-based firm rgg Architects, utilizes its own unique formal system to create "permeability through different materials and building tectonics." The tower is an aggregate of individual modules that can be enlarged or shrunk by an "8mx8m grid" based on programmatic needs, creating views and outdoor spaces unique to each spatial arrangement.

Adjaye Associates has unveiled images of its proposed reconceptualization of the protective façade of an electrical switching station into an engaging “Art Wall” in Newark, New Jersey. The 30-foot-high walls of the Fairmount Heights switching station will be transformed into a canvas for original works of 14 local and international artists, exploring themes of youth, education, and community, while a canopied passageway will house a market, art installations, and gathering space.

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It no longer makes much sense to say that BIM technology is the future of architectural design; it is the present and will become increasingly widespread. However, professionals and students often note that the technology's complexity can make it user-unfriendly, particularly regarding parametric element families.

While there are websites that offer ready-made families, the vast majority focus on engineering and other building systems, leaving few options for architectural and interior design elements.

Taiwan has announced the scheduled October 2018 opening of the Mecanoo-designed National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, also named “Weiwuying.” The Mecanoo scheme incorporates five state-of-the-art performance spaces under a single roof which, at 35 acres (141,000 square meters), stands as the world’s largest performing arts center under one roof.

Set across a 116-acre (470,000-square-meter) subtropical park in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung, the scheme will occupy a former military training base, symbolizing the city’s transition from a major international harbor into a rich, diverse, cultural hub, connecting local and international artistic talent.

Today, Friday, April 13, starting at 10:00 AM (GMT -3) in Santiago, Chile, the mayor of Recoleta, Daniel Jadue, and 2002 National Architecture Award winner Juan Sabbagh will present the municipal Inmobiliaria Popular (Public Housing) project at the national headquarters of the Architects' Association (Colegio de Arquitectos).

Unveiled in late January of this year, the initiative—unprecedented in Chile—consists of the construction of two five-story buildings with a total of 38 apartments, each measuring 55 square meters, to be rented to vulnerable families in the municipality. Other municipalities in the Chilean capital—Renca, Macul and Las Condes—have already announced they will study replicating the model.

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Late last year, we reported on the progress of world’s first 3D printed steel bridge designed by Netherlands-based MX3D. With the design now finalized, the start-up company has announced that the span of the bridge is now complete.

The final round of structural tests is expected to take place this summer, just three years after the project was first announced. After the structural integrity has been tested, the final design will be modified and the completion of the bridge will follow only a few months after. MX3D hopes to showcase the potential of their multi-axis 3D printer during the Dutch Design Week, and the first of its kind bridge is planned to be installed into its final location in a canal in Amsterdam sometime next year.

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Haven't submitted your entry for the Instituto Tomie Ohtake AkzoNobel Architecture Prize yet? There is still time! Registration has been extended to April 27! Take advantage of this last chance to participate in one of Brazil's most prestigious architecture awards.

The Instituto Tomie Ohtake and AkzoNobel continue to map contemporary architectural production, highlighting, for the fifth consecutive year, significant built projects within the current Brazilian landscape. Urban integration, commitment to the site and sustainability, as well as design and construction innovation, are the core criteria guiding the 5th Instituto Tomie Ohtake AkzoNobel Architecture Prize.

The rust-belt city of Cleveland, Ohio is home to a number of famous architectural icons including Farshid Moussavi's Museum of Contemporary Art, Rafael Vinoly’s Cleveland Museum of Art, and Frank Gehry’s Peter B. Lewis Building at Case Western Reserve. Cleveland is also the site of the oldest publicly-owned NBA arena in the country that has yet to receive a major renovation. However, Quicken Loans Arena, home court to LeBron James and the Cavaliers, will be undergoing a large transformation to be spearheaded by Gensler.

This new design, which will greatly improve the visitor experience and serve as a catalyst of the growth in Cleveland, will have all Cavalier fans excited to “Defend The Land” once the renovations are complete in 2019.

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Last month, the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) announced four finalists in their MCHAP award for emerging architecture: The María Montessori School by EPArquitectos and Estudio Macías Peredo, Children Village by Rosenbaum and Aleph Zero, the Embodied Computation LAB by David Benjamin, and Common Unity by Rozana Montiel Estudio de Arquitectura.

Now, the jury of Ricky Burdett, Jose Castillo, Ron Henderson, Rodrigo Pérez de Arce and Claire Weisz has declared Common Unity as the winner of the 2018 MCHAP.emerge award.

Ken Shuttleworth is a founding partner at Make, where he currently oversees several high-profile tall building schemes around the world. He is President of the British Council of Offices and in 2013 set up the Future Spaces Foundation to advance research and debate about sustainable cities.

British architect Sir David Adjaye, Founding Principal of Adjaye Associates, will be honored as this year’s recipient of the Louis I. Kahn Memorial Award by the Center for Architecture and Design in Philadelphia. The annual award celebrates the achievements of an individual who has made a significant contribution to the field of architecture, while also celebrating the achievements of influential Philadelphia-based architect Louis Kahn.

Past recipients of the award have included Bjarke Ingels, Norman Foster, Peter Bohlin, Daniel Libeskind, Robert A.M. Stern, Rafael Viñoly and César Pelli.

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MVRDV has won a competition for the design of an art installation in the Dutch coastal city of Den Helder, seeking to strengthen the connection between land and sea through a new public landmark. The “SeaSaw” consists of a viewing platform balanced in equilibrium atop the city’s flood defenses, a distinguishable structure praised by the jury for capturing “the energetic spirit of the city represented as an infinite form.”

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On Saturday, April 14, the continental award ceremony for the Prix Versailles will be held at Castillo Hidalgo in Santiago, Chile. The awards will honor the architecture and design of 24 completed retail, hotel, and restaurant projects across South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and North America.

Learn more about the event and past winners below.

In his latest photographic collection, Federico Scarchilli captures Cistercian order in the form of Abbazia di Fossanova, Casamari, and Valvisciolo. Simple and utilitarian, Cistercian architecture reflects the transition between the Romanesque and Gothic periods. During this time, many religious authorities felt excessive ornamentation was a distraction to spiritual studies.

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Following last year's designation of the Gimnasio Maravillas, designed by Alejandro de la Sota, the Community of Madrid has declared the Capitol Building an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) under the Monument category. This designation continues the region's initiative to protect and promote 20th-century Spanish modern architecture.

Also known as the Carrión Building, the Capitol Building was designed by architects Vicente Eced and Luis Martínez Feduchi. Construction began on April 21, 1931, and the building officially opened on October 15, 1933.

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BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group has unveiled images of their proposed Audemars Piguet Hotel des Horlogers, a ski hotel set in the scenic Vallée de Joux, Switzerland. The compact scheme, designed in collaboration with Cche Architecture, is defined by a zig-zag form seamlessly integrated into the smooth topography of the surrounding valley, forming a connection with the nearly Musée Atelier.

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Heatherwick Studio is believed to have won an international competition for the design of the new Terminal 5 at Changi Airport, Singapore. Although no formal announcement has been made, The Architects' Journal and BD Online are reporting that a collaboration between Heatherwick and KPF has prevailed against a shortlist containing Grimshaw and SOM. If confirmed, the successful team will be tasked with the design of one of the world’s largest airport terminals.

The Terminal 5 building will accommodate 50 million passengers per year, giving Changi Airport a total capacity of 135 million by the late 2020s. The scheme is being developed within the context of a $1.2 billion expansion programme, which has seen the completion of a Terminal 4 building by Benoy, and a mixed-use “Jewel” biodome by Safdie Architects, pictured above, set to contain the world’s largest indoor waterfall.

Kaunas City Municipality has announced SMAR Architecture Studio as the winners of the Science Island International Design Contest for Lithuania's new National Science and Innovation Center. SMAR's design was the highest ranked of three winners in the Design Contest, which was the most popular in Lithuania's history attracting 144 teams from 44 countries.

“Other nights, like so many others, you bring color to the city, constantly turning a corner into a work of art, but it is a true artist sharing their vision,” sings Skool 77 in Color en la ciudad. Indeed, the graffiti route has become a major tourist attraction, helping to address various social issues in vulnerable areas of different Colombian cities and municipalities.

This initiative not only offers the opportunity to appreciate beautiful murals and innovative urban renewal projects but also seeks to foster an entrepreneurial spirit among the children, youth, and adults who create this street art. Through color, they are restoring hope to their communities, leaving differences behind and demonstrating that everyone is equal.

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On a hillside forest outside of Moscow, amongst 65-foot-high (20-meter-high) pine and birch trees, sits the only private house to be designed and built by Zaha Hadid in her lifetime. With a form defined by its natural surroundings, the Capital Hill Residence is divided into two components, one merging with the sloping hillside, and another “floating” 72 feet (22 meters) above ground to unlock spectacular views across the Russian forested landscape.

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Throughout the spring and summer of 2018, the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy will host a new site-specific project seeking to further our understanding of ecology, and the relationship between humans and the natural world. “The Florence Experiment” will connect internal and external spaces of the famed Renaissance palace through two separate experiences: an intertwined set of 65-foot-high (20-meter-high) slides, and a “live analysis” of the impact of human emotion on plant growth.

The Florence Experiment has been devised by German artist Carsten Höller and plant neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso, with the vision of turning the Palazzo Strozzi’s façade and courtyard into engaging areas of scientific and artistic experiment. Inspired by the Renaissance alliance between art and science, the project aims to create a new awareness of the way we see, understand, and interact with plant life.

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The city of Rome attracts millions of visitors each year to explore its ancient ruins and to learn about how the culture and architecture has transformed over thousands of years. Now, after many years of tedious construction, visitors will be able to see the city as it has never been seen before, through a 1:250 model of imperial Rome, known as the Plastico di Roma Imperiale. The plaster model, which was commissioned by Mussolini in 1933 and completed in 1971, depicts Rome as it stood in the 4^th century under the reign of Constantine I.

MADWORKSHOP Fellows Jeremy Carman and Jayson Champlain have designed a unique approach to emergency post-disaster shelters. The 2017 Fellows of the MADWORKSHOP Foundation created "Shelter Squared" as a response to "the current scarcity of design-oriented solutions to emergencies."

Overall, the design utilizes cost-effective, recyclable materials to provide a meaningful alternative to the current standard of post-disaster shelters, described the architects.